Friday, July 11, 2014

Risk it

I'm not here to spin in circles.


One of the biggest principles I have stood for in my education, career, and life is in these two words.


Risk it!


It just sounds exciting even thinking about it. It’s a reminder to step aside from what I'm doing and reflect on myself if what I'm doing or saying is the right choice for what I want when trying something new. I like to ask myself these questions:


Is it a challenge? If not, then why am I doing it?
Is anybody else doing it? If so, then what purpose does it serve me?
Can I live with myself if I don’t do it? If so, then it’s probably not that big of a deal and I should find another task. If I can’t live with myself, then I better get started on the mission.


If I can’t answer these questions while thinking I’m going out there to make that small difference in the world, then I’m not interested. If I wanted to do nothing, I’d stay at home. Maybe taking risks won’t give me exactly what I want, but it’ll align the path to what I’m destined for. I'm not looking to win any awards, but what I am looking for is to have a simple message that anybody can understand. It's not an easy way to be subjective if I’m doing things the regular way all the time. I can be sure I’m onto something worth fighting for when my mind hits that certain threshold. I get more blood pumping in my veins. I have that specific vision. That’s when I know what I’m doing is making things happen. That’s when I know that persistence pays off and I’m going to go for the gold.

That's what makes me so comfortable about myself. I'm happy with who I am, and if it means I do things a little differently, then so be it. I dare myself to push harder, to reach the highest mountain. If I was content with mediocrity and being regular or average, I wouldn't be in college or I wouldn't have moved to California in search of bigger opportunities.


I surround myself with smarter than myself and risk-taking people. My principle is to lead by example, teaching others to check themselves before they wreck themselves. If a few more people can think about risking it more often, there’d be more chances of making that bullseye.

Wayne Gretzky said it best. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. The odds are in our favor, then.

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